John Conyers

Two Democratic Congressmen who were on the House Judiciary subcommittee that questioned Christopher Christie  on Thursday found themselves with unrelated political problems of their own soon after the GOP candidate for Governor left Washington.  House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers' wife, Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges -- she took envelopes stuffed with cash.  And Steve Cohen, the subcommittee chairman and the Democrat who most aggressively challenged Christie on deferred prosecution agreements, will face a tough primary in a district where African American voters are the majority.  Popular five-term Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, an African American, said Thursday that he will challenge Cohen in the 2010 Democratic primary.

Former U.S. Attorney and current Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie is considering an invitation to testify before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law on June 25.  

The committee originally scheduled the hearing and invited Christie for May 19, but put it off at the urging of Republican members, who argued that its timing could impact the GOP gubernatorial primary.  

The hearing’s focus will be on legislation co-authored by U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) and Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) that creates guidelines for how deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) are awarded.  The political ramifications are obvious, however, as the legislation was inspired by Christie’s awarding of a lucrative federal monitoring contract to his former boss, ex-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. 

WASHINGTON -- United States Attorney Christopher Christie didn’t attend today’s Congressional hearing, but his presence loomed over the proceedings.

The hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law was broken up into two panels: the first consisted of former Attorney General John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias, University of Virginia Law Professor Brandon Garrett and attorneys Timothy Dickinson and George Terwilliger III. The second panel consisted of New Jersey Democrats Bill Pascrell and Frank Pallone.

Republican members of the committee stressed that deferred prosecution agreements were vital to keeping companies that employ thousands solvent, and noted that monitors were not paid with taxpayer dollars. Democrats questioned whether corporations were getting a separate form of justice from blue collar criminals.

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft will testify at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, March 11, regarding a multi-million dollar federal monitoring contract he received after he left the Bush Administration.

U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer wants congressional hearings on deferred prosecution agreements, like the one that netted former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft a federal monitor agreement worth as much as $52 million over the next eighteen months.

“I think that’s absolutely essential.  I think this administration has played fast and loose with the public dollars,” said Hoyer.

At the request of Rep. Bill Pascrell, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers said earlier this month that he was likely to hold hearings on U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie’s decision to award lucrative no-bid monitor contracts to Ashcroft and others.

U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie
CONGRESS COULD ISSUE SUBPOENAS, HOLD HEARINGS

In a direct communication with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey today, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee requested details of federal monitor contracts negotiated by New Jersey's United States Attorney, Christopher J. Christie, and said that if documents are not turned over to them quickly, they could issue subpoenas to obtain them, according to a source with knowledge of the Judiciary panels actions.

And House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers says he is likely to hold hearings on the need for federal oversight of deferred prosecution agreements.

Christie, a leading candidate for the 2009 Republican nomination for Governor, awarded former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft a federal monitor contract worth up to $52 million over the next eighteen months, and has given out lucrative contracts to several other politically connected lawyers, according to published reports.

The New York Times reported today that the Justice Department is conducting an internal review of deferred prosecution agreements, though a spokesman for the department said the Justice Department has been having ongoing discussions about the selection of federal monitors for several months and was not prompted by reports of Christie's deal with Ashcroft, according to Peter A. Carr, a spokesman for the Department of Justice in Washington. "There is no inquiry into that selection. Likewise, the consideration of guidance was not prompted by the actions of any U.S. Attorney," Carr said in a statement released today.

In a letter to Mukasey, Conyers chastised the Justice Department for failing to respond to letters from at least two Congressmen,and said that a report in today's New York Times "reinforces a concern over the lack of real oversight and transparency of deferred prosecution agreements."

"These agreements, which directly affect billions of dollars in corporate business as well as the livelihoods of millions of Americans employed by these corporations, have been completely shielded from review by either the Legislative or Judicial branches of the government," Conyers wrote in a letter also signed by Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law Chairwoman Linda Sanchez, and Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. of New Jersey.